CCCXLV. HAYDN, Franz Joseph (1732-1809)
First Movement
Grave.
He opens in D Major, moves to D Minor and inserts that dark B-Flat/A chord before moving to the dominant in preparation for the Presto:
Notice that D-Sharp leading tone? This feature will permeate the entire movement.
Now see how he speeds things up with triplets (red) and then drops everything for a little two-note 16th motif in the violins (blue) ...
He moves to the Relative Minor (B) for the development. Note the constant appearance of that non-chord tone note in the various parts:
Haydn gives the trumpets a nice bit of business in the Coda:
Second Movement
A very simple melody for muted strings is developed through a set of four variations.
The third variation is particularly lovely with a solo cello weaving through the texture:
The third variation is particularly lovely with a solo cello weaving through the texture:
Years after its composition, Haydn relates a sad tale about this movement on the occasion of his first visit to London:
"On March 26, 1792 at Mr. Barthelemon's Concert, there was an English clergyman who sank into the deepest melancholy on hearing this Andante, because the night before he had dreamt that such an Andante was a premonition of his death. He immediately left and took to his bed, and today, April 25th, I learned from Herr Barthelemon that this Protestant clergyman had died."
Third Movement
The trio is interesting because it again showcases that leading-tone:
Fourth Movement
A typical jolly Haydn vivace:
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